We Should Team Up More
by totaldramaturtletitan
Summary: A series of unrelated one-shots revolving around Raph and Donnie, because they get next to no interaction in the show. This is mainly intended as a way to explore the dynamics of the two. Ratings and genres vary with every chapter, but it will never go above T.
1. Chapter 1

**So, has anyone else noticed that Raph and Donnie get little to no interaction in the show? Seeing as they're my brotp, I couldn't stand for that, so I decided to start this! Nothing special, just a bunch of little one-shots about the two and their great dynamics. if you have an idea for a situation you'd like to see them in, let me know! This story isn't going to end anytime soon, and I need all the prompts I can get! This story can also be found on my Tumblr, the link to which is in my profile! Now, without further ado, enjoy the story!**

**I don't own them.**

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Donnie spent a lot of time in his lab. More time than was probably healthy, really. He had to be forced out for training, and he never ate with the family, instead grabbing his food and retreating. And that was if he ate at all. He was still working when everyone went to sleep, so whether he slept was anyone's guess.

He probably assumed no one noticed these habits, but Raph kept a close watch on him. He didn't want his brother passing out in the middle of a battle because he was too stupid to sleep once in a while. Most days, Donnie manage to keep himself alive pretty well, but other times, Raph wasn't sure if he was a genius or a complete moron.

Tonight was one of those nights. Raph had stepped out of his room to get a drink of water and found a slightly swaying Donnie standing in the dark room and watching the coffee pot brew. Seeing as the pot was full when Raph retired to his room, he had to have been guzzling the stuff.

Walking softly as if loud noises would startle the turtle back into his cave, Raph filled a glass with water. As he did, he studied his brother, trying to gauge how long it had been since he had gotten a full night's sleep. Bags under his eyes and constant yawning made the answer pretty clear.

"You need to sleep, you know." Donnie jumped slightly, looking at Raph as if just noticing he was in the room. He squinted at the clock behind Raph, eventually giving up on reading it in the dark.

"I am sleeping." He responded softly, returning to the task at hand and filling a large mug with coffee. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Dozing off in your lab is not sleeping!" Raph groaned. "Your lab will be there in the morning, but if you don't start taking care of yourself, you won't be!"

The response was slow blinking as Donnie downed his mug of coffee. Setting the cup down, he nodded, staring at Raph almost sympathetically. "I'm getting by just fine, aren't I? I really don't see why you're making such a fuss." He turned back to the coffee pot, filling his cup once more before walking towards the doorway.

Not going to let it go, Raph lunged forward, grabbing Donnie's shoulder. This resulted in hot coffee all over the ground and the mutant. Giving him a dirty look, Donnie walked back to the pot. "I hope you're cleaning that up."

"Why won't you just sleep? What is so important that you can't take a break?" Raph asked, ignoring the statement.

Donnie took a long time to answer, staring at the counter for what seemed like hours before sighing. "I've got a thousand things that all need to be done at the same time, that time being as soon as possible."

Almost instantly, Raph remembered every time he or Leo or Mikey had asked him to make something, had asked him to get it done as soon as possible. It was all stupid, silly things, like hovercrafts and missiles, and the hothead had always assumed he forgot about the requests as soon as he heard them. He wasn't actually supposed to make them.

Mentally slapping himself, he stood in silence as Donnie pushed past him. The slamming of a door knocked him out of his haze, and he followed, knocking on the door and half-hoping he wouldn't answer.

The door barely cracked open, and one russet eye stared out with the look of someone who had just spilled every one of his secrets. "Did you need something?"

Raph pushed the door open, rummaging through the metal scraps on the desk until he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. Donnie always kept a list of things he needed to work on when they were children, and he had kept the habit as they grew. What should've been a small list was a paper crammed with words, with bullets in the margins and question marks after every idea. There was only one thing crossed off, a small sentence crammed in the corner.

Turning back to the slightly terrified looking turtle, he stepped forward, shaking his head. "You aren't actually supposed to make this crap, moron! No wonder you aren't sleeping, you don't have time for all of this!"

Donnie didn't respond, sitting down and shifting through the machinery on his desk. He made no indication that he had heard his brother, and he kept his head down.

Pulling up a chair, Raph sat beside him. "I'm not sleeping until you do." Picking up a shape piece of plastic, he pushed it in of Donnie. "What's this for?"

And that's how they worked for the rest of the night, neither of them mentioning the earlier conversations


	2. Chapter 2

**I just really love writing Casey/Donnie interactions. And Casey/Raph interactions. And Donnie/Raph interactions. So you know, this was a given. I didn't mention this last chapter, but while we will have lots of chapters like the last one, we also never get little interactions between the two. You know little lines on the side and stuff, yeah. So, we will be getting a lot of chapters like this, as well. I should warn you that it's 2:30, and I'm exhausted.**

**Not mine.**

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"I don't understand why we had to go with Don. Does he really need both of us?" Casey groaned, staring at the mutant's back as he fiddled with an electric lock. They had come to Kraang headquarters in hopes of getting more mutagen, and Leo had split the six up.

"Sadly, yes. April, Leo, and Mikey get to punch people, and we get to carry canisters of radioactive ooze. Joy." Raph responded, pushing the back of Donnie's shell. "You wanna hurry it up? I'd like to get out of here before Christmas."

"I'm trying." Donnie paused before pushing a small button, smiling proudly as the door slid open. "And if it concerns you so much, yes, I did need both of you. In case you forgot, I'm the only existing being who can make retro-mutagen. I'm worth a lot, and I'm counting on you two to keep my head on my body." He said this matter-of-factly, as if it was perfectly a normal conversation to have. "Besides, I need someone strong enough to carry very large containers of that radioactive ooze."

Casey rolled his eyes, accepting the attempt at flattery while acknowledging that was all it was. "If I end up turning into a freak because of this, you better cure me first."

Raph and Donnie both paused to stare at Casey, their faces a mixture of contempt, offense, and pain. Casey stared back for a solid ten seconds before catching his mistake. "I mean, you guys aren't freaks. You're totally normal."

Donnie glared at him for a beat longer before sighing and pulling pen and paper from his belt. Smoothing the paper against the wall, he began to sketch a quick outline of the building, circling the room they stood in and marking another area. "We're at Point A. We need to get to Point B. That's where the mutagen is. However, between those two points is No-man's land, and the Kraang are going to be all over this area. I know stealth isn't what you two are known for, but please try."

He straightened up, waiting for a confirmation and looking back when he got none. He was greeted with the two admiring their weapons, eventually meeting his eyes with faint confusion. "Stealth. Use it. Avoid fighting. Got it?"

Groans rose from both at the same time, but they held their protests as they put their weapons back. Donnie nodded a thank you before moving through the unlocked door.

The trio traveled in silence, on guard and ready to fight any threat that came along. To their surprise and, in the case of Raph and Casey, disappointment, there wasn't a single Kraang, bot or otherwise. They were alone, the only sound coming from groans of annoyance.

"This doesn't make any sense." Donnie mumbled, stepping into 'Point B' with exaggerated care. As expected, a large vat of mutagen sat in the middle of the room. "You'd think this would be guarded better." Shrugging, he stepped closer to the acid, studying it and trying to figure out how he could collect some. They had to have some empty canisters somewhere...

Meanwhile, Casey groaned, throwing his hockey stick down in disgust. "This is ridiculous! We don't even get to fight! What's the point?" He watched as Donnie crept behind the vat, rolling his eyes at the audible gasp Donnie gave when he emerged holding multiple canisters.

"Note to future self: There's a compartment in the back filled with these." The mutant grinned, obviously proud of himself. Dropping the containers, he began to inspect the vat in hopes of finding a way to collect it without dipping anything into the mutagen itself.

Meanwhile, Casey and Raph stared at each other, both clearly irritated with the lack of skull-crushing going on. "This is so boring!" The human whined, leaning against a wall. In true cliche fashion, a siren began to blare, and Casey jumped away to see a blaringly obvious button right where he had leaned.

"I thought Mikey went with the others!" Raph quipped, eager for a fight. As he had hoped, Kraang began to file in. "Get the mutagen, Don!" Giving a cocky smile to match Casey's, he launched into action.

Donnie only nodded, his eyes busy studying every part of the unit. He stood ready to fight, but didn't brother to grab his weapon in hopes that the other two could handle it. Slowly walking around the vat and ignoring the sounds of battle, his eyes lit up and the sight of small circles that were the same shape and size as the empty canisters. Quickly stuffing one in each hole, Donnie smiled, satisfied as the bottles began to fill with the green liquid. He returned to grab more canisters, ducking as a blast went off right over his head.

"Oops!" Casey called, hitting the robot over the head like it was a baseball and he was aiming for a home run. Donnie gave a quick thumbs up before returning to the task at hand.

This back and forth continued for a few more rounds, ending when Raph and Casey gave each other a celebratory high five. Around the same time, Donnie walked up to the duo with multiple containers filling his arms. "Great job, you two." He mumbled, obviously more interested in all the retro-mutagen he would be making.

Maybe it was pity, maybe it was indigestion, but a Raph felt some kind of twinge in his stomach when he saw Donnie glance up at them almost shyly. Reaching out a hand, he awkwardly patted his brother's shoulder. "Yeah, you too."

Donnie looked like he might've dropped every container right there.


End file.
